Innocence Group Project Check-In
Argument Building
1) There are similar arguments across our papers. Innocence and the loss of innocence is globally shared. In our papers we are focusing on external factors including what is socially accepted according to looks and beauty and how people are treated based on their features.
2) Even though there are different ideas across our papers we don’t have any conflicting arguments that could be discussed.
3) There are a few ideas that our papers suggest. These include the loss of innocence based on outer appearance and how that is judged by society and how being abused and rejected can lead to psychological damage leading to the loss of innocence.
Research
1) Texts or news articles describing discrimination based on first impressions or looks can make our argument stronger by challenging society’s ideas of innocence ( eg. Ferguson) Over time, social norms can change the notions of innocence and identity.
2) Some of the big questions would be “what is innocence?”, “what does society perceive as innocence?”, and “how do characters lose innocence in the novels?”
3) We really need to define the key object in American Born Chinese: the transformer. In the graphic novel, it might help us understand Jin’s desires if we knew what type of transformer it is instead of being it a generic one. The actual transformers has villains and heroes, all we know about Jin’s transformer is that he has to trade in his soul for it. We will see if this has anything to do with the transformation from an innocent being to non-innocent being.
Moving Forward as a Group
1) Glendy is going to contribute to the project by writing a close reading paper on American Born chinese and what hair symbolises in the book. She also has an F2 paper on Pecola’s use of the shirley temples cup to drink three quarts of milk as a way to internalize white beauty and fulfill the standards of society.
2) Jennafer is going to contribute to the project by writing about how the psychological damage done to Johnny through not only the rejection of his parents but by the abuse he suffered at their hands changed his mindset stealing his innocence. I will also contribute with my comic strip depicting how children are innocent and cute however as they grow older their mental states change according to outer appearance.
3) Angelica is going to contribute to the project by writing about how Ponyboy’s hair was such an important factor to how he was viewed not only by others but by himself. Once he chopped off his hair and lost the grease, he was able to become the sunset loving, Robert Frost quoting Ponyboy that he is underneath his Greaser front.
4) Miguel is going to contribute with his F1 paper which is based on the loss of innocence. The monster in Frankenstein “loses his innocence” and peaceful nature when he is rejected by the cottagers: He burns the house and becomes a vicious creature because no one can understand him.
5) Jieren is going to contribute how in American Born Chinese, Jin’s struggle with his identity consumes him and compromises his innocence. When the herbalist tells him he can be anything he wants if he trades his soul in for it, it seems like he actually does.
Moving Forward as an Individual
1) Jennafer thinks that by hearing what the other members of her group are writing about, it is helping her deepen her own work. My group members focused mainly on looks and though I originally saw things from a psychological standpoint (abuse, rejection, etc.) however after speaking to my group members I was able to realize that how society views appearance can affect someone psychologically, just as badly as if they were being abused. Due to this, I will focus less on the abuse and rejection by the characters and more about how looks affect a person’s innocence.
2) Angelica thinks that working with the group has helped her to focus more. It was refreshing to know that people in my group were “on the same page” so to speak as I was and that another member is interested in pursuing the same area that I am, relating hair to innocence and self identity. After speaking with you and with the group, I am going to focus on how hair plays an important part to one’s identity while they are growing up and how losing that hair that they had grown up with in order to get hair that they feel will make them fit in, they are shedding a part of themselves – and possibly their innocence in the process.
3) By listening to their amazing ideas, Miguel thinks that there is a lot of talent in the group and that it will be able to support the theme of innocence even if everyone’s essays are not aligned towards that theme yet. Miguel will try to take a look at everyone’s work and see how they can be connected to work as a whole and maybe gain a different perspective of how innocence is perceived by others and society. As the semester moves forward, Miguel will also try to find new evidence in the new books that can help the group in its research.
4) Glendy thinks that her group has very interesting ideas that could be use to build a strong thesis statement once all the finished essay have been gather. Glendy will continually be focus on the meaning of hair and innocence through the course of the semester, and how hair has become a way to make a statement with regards of beauty and loss of innocence. She will continue to gather more information that could be use to support her argument as well as to support the idea as a whole.
5) Jieren thinks the group has many great ideas that relate to the theme of innocence. I think all of the many ideas our group gets throughout the semester will help paint a broader picture of what it means to be innocent, since it is a perception of society. At the moment Jieren thinks most of the text would support the idea that innocence is based on looks such as Frankenstein and The Outsiders. Jieren will look for other perceptions or manifestations of innocence or lack of in the new texts.